Labor 'tougher' on asylum seekers

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REJECTED asylum seekers are being deported in increasing numbers
as the new Immigration Minister refuses last-ditch appeals at an
unprecedented rate, refugee support groups claim.

Refugee advocates say the minister, Senator Chris Evans, is
refusing to intercede in asylum seekers' appeals to remain in
Australia on compassionate grounds at a higher rate than his
Liberal predecessors.

Over the past two weeks the Labor Government has deported five
asylum seekers from Sydney's Villawood detention centre, the NSW
Refugee Action Collective says.

Among a caseload of 560 appeals he has turned down since coming
to office is that of a Bangladeshi man, Manjurul Haque Chowdhury,
who is married to an Australian citizen.

Mr Chowdhury has helped raise his wife's children and looks
after her now that she is disabled.

Another to have had an appeal rejected was a 63-year-old East
Timorese grandmother who no longer has a home to return to in East
Timor and who has three children who are Australian citizens and
six grandchildren in Australia.

Senator Evans has acknowledged that the bulk of the rejected
ministerial appeals concerned asylum claims.